How to speak Hindi

The word Hindi was initially used to refer to the habitants of the region east of the Indus River until it became the official language of India. It is derived from the Persian word Hind which translates to ‘land of the Indus River.’

Most Indians will tell you that the language is not hard to learn, as there are many English words with Hindi origins and vice versa. The script used is called Devanagari and is not only used for Hindi but other languages as well such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, Marathi and a few other Nepali languages. Since Hindi is one of the top 10 most spoken languages in the world, here’s a few sentences that might help you get around the city of Pune and make you very popular with the locals!

The first thing you would NEED to know is how to introduce yourself, and this is what you should say ‘Mera naam Sonam hai,’ which literally translates to ‘my name Sonam is.’ If you then wanted to ask somebody what their name was you would say ‘Aap ka naam kya hai?’ The next crucial sentence would be to ask somebody how they are doing, in order to do that you would simply say ‘Aap kaise hain?’ which translates to ‘You how are?’ Similarly ‘Main acha hoon’would translate to ‘I fine am’. This all might seem a little strange but you’ll get used to it!

India is known for it’s roadside shopping and so here are a few phrases to help you converse with the vendor. If you wanted to ask for a price of a certain item you would say ‘Yeh kitne ka hai?’ or if you wanted them to lower the price of an item, simply say ‘Daam kam karo!’ With all the walking you’ll be doing if needed to ask where the restroom was you would say ‘Toilet/Bathroomkaha hai?’isn’t that simple? The best part is, you can replace the word bathroom with any other word if you are ever lost! And if you are ever in need of help just say ‘Kya aap meri madaat karenge?’

The last couple of common words you would need to know are ‘chalo’ which means let’s go, ‘Chai’ which means tea, you will be saying that word more than you think!‘Yes’ and ‘No’ are ‘Haan’and ‘Na’and if you ever unsure of anything it is okay to say ‘Mujhenahi malum’.